A/N: Sorry for such a long wait. I was really busy with school but the term is over now so I'll try not to keep you waiting too long from now on. This chapter's song is one of my favorites so definitely give it a listen. This chapter is a look into April and Jackson's current lives. Enjoy :)

Disclaimer: Same as usual.


Waking up from this nightmare
How's your life? What's it like there?
Is it all what you want it to be?
Does it hurt when you think about me?
And how broken my heart is

Take you away from that empty apartment
You stay and forget where the heart is
Someday if ever you love me you'd say it's okay

It's okay to be angry and never let go
It only gets harder the more that you know
When you get lonely if no one's around
You know that I'll catch you when you're falling down
We came together but you left alone
And I know how it feels to walk out on your own
Maybe someday I will see you again
And you'll look me in my eyes and call me your friend

- Empty Apartment by Yellowcard


May 2016

"More suction, Fitzgerald," April advised her resident.

Morgan Fitzgerald, the second year with a budding interest in trauma, nodded and did as he was told.

"Good," April commented. "And there, we got all the bleeders." She smiled in satisfaction behind her surgical mask before turning to Fitzgerald. "Do you wanna close?"

"Yeah!" The young man answered excitedly.

April nodded and stepped back from the operating table. She gestured for him to take her place before she left Fitzgerald under the watchful eyes of very capable scrub nurses. She pulled off her gloves, mask, and gown and tossed them in the garbage bin before leaving the OR and entering the scrub room.

She washed and dried her hands and arms but stayed to watch Fitzgerald finish the procedure. She folded her arms across her chest and smiled to herself as the junior resident carefully double-checked his work.

It always amazed her how much she enjoyed teaching. It was such an enriching and rewarding experience to pass on her knowledge and experience to young surgeons. They could learn from her mistakes, and it almost made making them in the first place bearable. She was able to teach and save lives on a daily basis. She truly did have the most amazing job and she thanked God every day for it.

She thanked God for Columbia University Medical Center. It was the perfect fit for her, more so than Seattle Grace Mercy West, and certainly more than Tulane. She was treated differently here. Even though they were her friends, the staff in Seattle would always remember her as an annoying resident who had been fired and had needed to take her Boards twice, and in Tulane she had been Jackson Avery's girlfriend. Here she was a published author. A respected surgeon. A humanitarian. She was the head of the trauma department and she had climbed the ladder very quickly.

She had found her niche at Columbia.

She also thanked God for Peter. He was perfect.

After sending Fitzgerald a small nod of approval, she left the room and smacked into an attending surgeon who was passing through the hallway. She had an apology on the tip of her tongue when she felt two familiar hands snake around her waist.

"Sorry for crashing into you," her fiancé whispered in her ear.

"It's okay," she giggled pleasantly.

Peter held her at arm's length so that he could look at her and he smiled uncontrollably. "It is actually ridiculous how cute you look in a scrub cap."

April laughed and accused, "You're a flatterer, and that will get you everywhere."

"I'm just being honest," he argued with a grin. He ran his hands along her sides as he asked, "I'll meet you for lunch in your office?"

"Yup," she nodded. "I'm heading there right now!"

He grabbed her hand and squeezed it affectionately. "Okay, I'll meet you there, beautiful. I just gotta check on one of my fellows."

April smiled back at him excitedly. "See you soon."

She removed her scrub cap as she headed to her lovely office on the third floor. She closed the door behind her and stretched her arms above her head. She was a little sore but she was positive that she could talk Peter into giving her a shoulder rub. She sat down at her desk and grabbed a proposal that an attending in her department had given her to mull over.

She had just finished reading the first page when her office door opened and Peter walked in with a happy smile.

He held a small bag out in front of him and declared enthusiastically, "I brought you chocolate chip cookies!"

April squealed in girlish delight and jumped out of her chair. She raced towards him and flung her arms around his neck. "I love you, now give me my cookies," she muttered against his mouth.

He laughed as he guided her towards his favourite aspect of her office, the large and very comfortable sofa. He placed the cookies on her coffee table before he gently pushed her down onto the piece of furniture. She threaded her fingers through his dark hair and pulled him down for a kiss. He loved these little, impromptu make out sessions that being attendings allowed. Their schedules weren't as jam-packed as they had been in residency and they had more privacy than tents in Kenya would have allowed. Having a fiancé who had a nice, cushy office with a lock on the door because they were the head of their department didn't hurt either. He constantly teased her about on-call rooms, how could he not after hearing some of her stories about Seattle Grace, but they only ever fooled around in her office.

She started to tug his scrub top upwards and he pulled away from her lips long enough to take off the item of clothing. He returned to kissing her and she trailed her hands down his bare back. He shivered and reflexively bucked his hips against her. In response, she dug her short fingernails into his skin and tantalizingly slipped her tongue into his mouth.

He still couldn't fathom how he had gotten so lucky. He had been in two serious relationships before her. The first had started in high school and had lasted for four years and the second had been two years long and it had been with a fellow surgeon during his residency at the University of Pittsburgh. He had only ever been physical with those two women and he had loved them, however, the feelings that he had possessed for them didn't even compare to his feelings for April. She had been unattainable for so long and even though they had only started dating a year ago, he knew that she was the love of his life.

April was amazing in so many ways. They just fit together. They made sense.

And she was incredibly sexy. He felt very out of her league at times but he tried not to let it get to him. Annoyingly enough, his insecurities had started to get a little more pronounced since she had starting communicating with Jackson Avery again.

April tossed one of her legs around Peter's waist and pulled his body as close to hers as physically possible. She moaned lowly as he dropped his mouth to her neck. She was flushed, aroused…and so horny. She hadn't had sex since her last encounter with Jackson, and that had been fourteen months ago. But she and Peter were waiting until their wedding night. It had been a mutual decision that they had discussed at length. It was the best thing for the both of them, and for their relationship. They were both Christians who didn't take the act of sex lightly, but sometimes April found it difficult to restrain herself.

She actually really missed sex.

And she knew that Peter did too. He slipped his hands underneath her shirt as he thrust his hips into hers.

"We need to stop," she told him breathlessly.

"I know," he groaned as he placed a kiss in the juncture between her neck and shoulder. He placed a soft kiss on her lips before he sat up and allowed her to as well.

April passed him his scrub top before fixing her sure to be dishevelled hair. He pulled the shirt back over his head and pushed his glasses farther up his nose. She could tell that he was in desperate need of a cold shower so she leaned forward and kissed him sweetly. "Thanks for the cookies, sweetheart. Made my day." Peter always did little thoughtful things like that for her; it was one of the reasons that she loved him.

He turned to her and smiled. "No problem, anytime."

April walked towards her small refrigerator and pulled out the plastic containers that held their lunches and two bottles of water. She had made a salad and turkey sandwich for herself, and a roast beef sandwich and leftover pasta from last night's dinner made up Peter's meal. She leaned back on the sofa and started to eat her lunch as her quiet fiancé sat beside her and did the same. They were so comfortable around each other that they could just sit in silence for hours. They never had to force conversation.

She rested her head on his shoulder and smiled when he wrapped his arm around her. He picked up his sandwich with his free hand as his other rubbed up and down her arm.

She broke the silence when she stated, "So, we'll be married in a month."

"Yeah," he smiled broadly. "Although right now it seems very far away. Let's go down to Atlantic City and elope."

She laughed as she placed a hand on his chest and ran it down his torso. "Your mother would kill us."

"That's true," he sighed. His mother was the reason that they were having a social event for a wedding as opposed to a small, intimate gathering. Eleanor Wakely was quite the New York socialite and she wanted her only child to get married in extravagant style. "So let's not tell anybody."

She giggled and placed a kiss on his cheek. "That would be nice," she commented thoughtfully. There was a lot of pressure associated with a big wedding and so many people were invited. However, she was very excited. "But I've already bought the dress," she teased.

"True, true," he agreed with a small grin. And he couldn't wait to see her in her wedding dress.

They finished up their lunches and April even gave him one of her cookies.

"Well," Peter announced as he brushed his hands across his knees. "I should go prep. I have a big surgery this afternoon."

April placed both of her hands on his face and kissed him lovingly. "Good luck and I'll see you later."

"You certainly will," he responded. He kissed her again before he left her office.

Once she was alone, April cleaned up and decided to get back at the proposal she had been reading. She was approximately halfway through it when her office phone rang.


"April Kepner speaking."

Jackson smiled and contentedly laid back on the cot bed in the on-call room as April's familiar voice washed over him. "Hey, I had a nurse transfer me directly to your office, I hope you don't mind."

"Oh! Jackson, hi! Of course I don't mind. How are you?"

"I'm good, just resting," he answered through a yawn. She laughed at him and he smiled happily. It felt really good to hear that sound. "I've been up all night. We had to deal with a school fire. How are you?"

"I'm good," she answered promptly. "I'm just doing some administrative type things. Nothing too exciting."

He paused and ran a hand over his closely shaved head before he spoke again. "I lost a patient last night. A thirteen year old boy. Burns covered over eighty percent of his body. In the end all we could do was make him comfortable. I've lost patients before but…" He trailed off and took a deep breath. A couple of deaths had hit him really hard during residency but since moving to Tulane he was a plastic surgeon exclusively, and plastics didn't typically see a lot of casualties.

"No, I get it," she told him softly.

He smiled to himself. He could tell by the sincerity in her voice that she wasn't lying or exaggerating. She understood him better than anyone else after all. "I just felt like I needed to talk to you," he confessed.

"That's fine," she assured him. "What are friends for?"

"Exactly," he agreed after swallowing harshly.

He knew that she wanted friendship. He knew that she was the type that wanted something positive to emerge from their failed relationship, but he couldn't help but believe that a part of her still loved him, and still wanted to be with him. Their story wasn't over yet. They knew each other too well. There was too much history. There were too many lingering feelings and things left unsaid.

"On a brighter note," she began, and he could hear the smile in her voice. "Columbia is doing a penis transplant at the beginning of next month and I may have tossed your name around for a consult."

"Should I be expecting a call?" He asked with a chuckle.

"Maybe," she quipped teasingly. "They're a little biased towards Mark because ya know, he's alumni, but I assured them that you're just as good, if not better."

"Thanks," he whispered. That comment meant a lot coming from her and he couldn't help but imagine the perturbed look on Wakely's face if he showed up at Columbia for a highly publicized surgery. The thought of it made him a little giddy. "Who's the plastics attending on the case?" He questioned nosily.

"Jonathon Morrow," she replied. "But I did the first surgery when he was admitted into the ER. His, um, wife got a little revenge for his infidelity."

Jackson involuntarily winced. "Ouch."

"Yeah, it was quite the sight."

Jackson's laughter was interrupted when the alarm sounded on his cell phone and he sighed in disappoint. "I guess it's time for me to go."

"I hope that your day gets better Jackson."

"Bye, I—" He stopped himself as he realized what he had been about to say. It just felt so natural. "I will talk to you later," he finished before ending the call.

Jackson left the on-call and headed down to the second floor. He approached the office of Dr. Leyland Summers and knocked gently. He opened the door, stepped inside, and shot his psychiatrist a small smile.

When Lauren had first suggested that he talk to somebody…and by somebody she had meant a shrink…he had laughed in her face. He had never put much faith in the specialty; he had always thought that psych was for med school grads who couldn't hack more hard core specialties. He had never been very good at openly discussing his feelings either. Lauren had forced him to attend his first session and she had sat beside him while he had been sulky, hostile, and unresponsive. But once he had opened up during a bout of frustration, he had felt better…relieved…weightless even.

Therapy turned out to be one of the healthiest decisions he had ever made. He was so much more self-aware. He now understood his issues regarding commitment, marriage, women, and his fear of abandonment. He realized that he had a tendency to shy away from responsibility and he now managed the pressure of being an Avery better. He was much more involved in the Harper Avery Foundation now and he enjoyed the work. He and Summers had also addressed how his lack of a male role model had affected his upbringing, and he managed his temper much better now.

He never thought that he would be in therapy but he had been having sessions with Summers for over a year now.

"I heard that the burn center was overflowing yesterday," Summers began.

Jackson nodded as he took a seat on the stereotypical therapist's couch. "Yeah, school fire. I lost a patient."

Summers prompted, "And?"

"I took it pretty hard," he replied honestly. "I called April."

Summers, who was a man in his fifties with salt and pepper hair and a beard, raised an eyebrow in intrigue. "And that made you feel better?"

"Of course, talking to her always make me feel better. She just gets me," he shrugged. Before Summers had a chance to response, he added, "I'm not being dependent. She called me last week when she had a tough case. We're friends." Summers laughed and Jackson rolled his eyes. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You're not a very good liar," the psychiatrist quipped.

Jackson chuckled but didn't deny it. "We've exhausted the topic of April Kepner. Let's talk about something else for now."

"As you wish." Summers flicked through his notepad before he settled on a topic. "Do you think religion helped you deal with the loss of your patient?"

Jackson thought about the question carefully. He had really taken April's comment about needing a little faith to heart. He had more faith in himself now and he had taken to exploring organized religion. His interest had first sparked when he had returned to New Orleans after attending the Doctors without Borders benefit. He truly wanted to understand how April saw the world, and he got it now. He now felt as if he understood April even better than he had before.

They discussed religion for the rest of the session and once he left the office, he changed his clothes before meeting Lauren in the lobby.

"Hey babe," the blonde grinned.

Jackson chuckled as he playfully tossed his arm around Lauren's shoulders. "Can we skip the gym this evening?" He asked in a tired voice. "It's been a very long shift."

The ortho surgeon sighed but nodded in agreement. "Yeah, let's just go back to your place and watch the game."

As they walked out the main entrance, Jackson looked down at the ground and smiled. This was his routine, and even though he didn't have exactly what he wanted, things could be much worse.


A/N: So, I really enjoyed last night's episode. I thought that the story line with the Syrian doctors once again showed off how big April's heart is, which, in my opinion, is one of the best things about her character. Also, I don't think her and Matthew are done. Just a feeling I have. lol.

Please leave a review and let me know your thoughts on this chapter! The next will have lots of Japril interaction as it will see Jackson in NYC. :)